"What is fascinating is that the ladybug is partially paralyzed by the parasite, yet it's eventually released unscathed," says Brodeur, who is also a biology professor and Canada Research Chair in Biocontrol. "Once liberated, the ladybug can continue to eat and reproduce as if nothing happened."

"Can the ladybug refuse to be used? We don't know. Our plan is to reproduce a variety of situations in the lab and see which is most favorable to reproduction," he says.

Wasps aren't alone in offloading their offspring, stresses Brodeur, since magpies look after the chicks of great spotted cuckoos. The cuckoo visits the nests where it leaves its young and kills those magpies that don't protect their offspring. And a variety of parasite behaviors exist in the insect world, yet the dynamic between the Dinocampus coccinellae and Coccinella maculata is unusual and one Brodeur hopes to better understand.